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Tressa Wood is the CEO of Men in Kilts, the window washing company that now has 11 locations in the U.S. and Canada.

A man in a dark green T-shirt and a green and yellow plaid kilt stood on top of a ladder. Other men wearing the same ensemble walked out of a truck toward a house in a neighborhood outside Vancouver. They were all there to wash windows. In kilts. And when Tressa Wood saw it, she had to stop and do a double take.

Those skirted men stayed in Wood’s mind as — odd as it may sound — she thought about her next career move. Before long, they would would turn to Wood to lead their window washing company, Men in Kilts.

It wasn't because she had any experience in the field. Wood was the VP of operations of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, the waste removal company that grew from $13 million to over $100 million in revenue in a five-year period, until she left to have her first child.

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After her baby was born, Wood was ready for her next career move but wasn’t sure where to go. Then she saw a story in a local newspaper about Men in Kilts and realized she had more in common with the company than she might have imagined. Turns out, the founder of the Vancouver window washing business admired 1-800-GOT-JUNK’s business model and wanted to build a similar franchise.

Wood called Men in Kilts and told them she was interested in consulting for them because of her experience growing 1-800-GOT-JUNK. The founder, Nicholas Brand, brought Wood in and explained his story. A Scottish-Canadian, he made a kilt by hand and owned one truck when Men in Kilts opened in 2002.

Since then, all of the window washers wear kilts while they work. The idea is silly and simple, but it catches people’s eyes and makes them smile.

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